An Introduction to:

1
An Introduction to The Economic Status, Public
Policy, and Child Neglect Study (aka, the
In-Home Longitudinal Study of Pre-School Aged
Children) Lonnie Berger Center for Health and
Wellbeing Princeton University Prepared for the
Fragile Families workshop Columbia
University July 2004
2
Overview of the study

• Consists of on an in-home module added to the
  Fragile Families study at 36 and 60 months
• Observational and self-report data are collected
  in participants homes over approximately one and
  a half hours
• Originally designed to collect information on
  child neglect and poor parenting behaviors
  and their effects on children, but the data can
  be used to study parenting and child wellbeing
  across a wide range of domains and levels

3
Types of data collected

• Health and disability, health behaviors, and
  accidents
• Child behavioral and cognitive development
• Family routines
• Parenting, parent-child interactions, and the
  quality of the caregiving environment
• Nutrition, food sufficiency, and food
  expenditures
• Physical and social characteristics of the home,
  building, and neighborhood
• Parental physical and mental health and cognitive
  ability (anthropometrics, stress, mastery, PPVT)
• Discipline strategies
• Involvement with child protective services
  (60-months)

4
Standardized measures

• Conflict Tactics Scale
• Home Observation for Measurement of the
  Environment
• USDA Food Security Supplement
• PSID Food Expenditures Module
• Child Behavior Checklist
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

5
Research questions

• How do factors such as economic status, family
  structure, and other parental/family
  characteristics affect parenting and the
  environments in which children live?
• What are the determinants of poor
  parenting/child deprivation?
• How do parental behaviors and the types of care
  children receive affect their developmental
  outcomes?
• How do maternal employment and work patterns
  affect parenting and child outcomes?
• What role do (resident and non-resident) fathers
  and mothers partners play in determining
  childrens care?
• How do public policies that affect family
  resources impact parenting, childrens care, and
  child outcomes?

6
Parenting measures (1)

• We have created 19 parenting measures. Many of
  these are available in multiple coding schemes.
• Measures based on the CTS
• Lack of non-violent discipline
• Psychological aggression
• Physical assault
• Neglectful behavior
• Measures based on the HOME
• Harshness
• Lack of warmth
• Lack of maternal verbal/social skills
• Lack of materials for learning/cognitive
  stimulation

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Parenting measures (2)

• Physical measures
• Problems with the home interior
• Home is unsafe for children
• Food insecurity
• Problems with the childs clothing/hygiene
• Medical measures
• Any accident requiring medical care last year
• No medical checkup last year
• Problems with childs oral health care
• Exposure measures
• Exposure to domestic violence
• Exposure to cigarette smoke
• Lack of seatbelt use

8
CTS measures and economic status
CTS1 Lack of nonviolent discipline CTS2
Psychological aggression CTS3 Physical
assault CTS4 Neglectful behaviors
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HOME measures and economic status
nonpun Harshness emoresp Lack of
warmth verbsoc Lack of maternal verbal/social
skills langstim Lack of materials for
learning/cognitive stimulation
10
Physical measures and economic status
homeint Problems with the home interior unsafe
Home is unsafe for children fs Food
insecurity appear Problems with the childs
hygiene/appearance
11
Medical measures and economic status
anyacc Any accident requiring medical care last
year nocheckup No regular medical checkup last
year oralprob Problems with childs oral health
care
12
Exposure measures and economic status
m3dvexpany Exposure to domestic violence smoke
Exposure to cigarette smoke noseatbelt Lack
of seatbelt use
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What are we finding so far?

• Lower income status is associated with poor
  outcomes on several of the HOME, physical and
  exposure measures, but less so with the CTS and
  medical measures.
• Poor outcomes on the most resource oriented
  measures (e.g., materials for learning, child
  appearance, food insecurity) are most closely
  linked to poverty.
• We are currently investigating the extent to
  which family characteristics affect child
  deprivation only through their effects on income.
  Thus far, we have rejected this hypothesis for 8
  of the 19 outcomes (lack of nonviolent
  discipline, all 4 physical measures, accidents,
  and exposure to cigarette smoke).